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Episode 905: The Pitch-Clock Countdown Edition
Date June 15, 2016 Summary Ben and Sam banter about Dodgers injuries, home run derbies, and the new TV show Braindead, and answer listener emails about intimidation tactics, scouting trade targets, baseball’s best commercial breaks, and more. Topics * Episode 904 follow-up: Fan noise and distractions * Fun facts in Little Big League * Impact of Ray Searage and pitching coaches * 'Perfect' strikeout innings * Scouting trade targets * Names for base-out states * Timing of baseball commercial breaks * New TV show Braindead Intro Pusha T, "Pain" Outro Radiohead, "Scatterbain (As Dead as Leaves)" Banter * The Los Angeles Dodgers are leading MLB in total injuries (53) and days lost to injury (500). * Ben and Sam discuss how this high rate of injuries may have been a result of the Dodgers' strategy and efforts to prevent injuries among players. * The Chicago White Sox have only lost 72 days to injury this year. * Sam asks Ben about a series of Home Run Derby participants that he would want to see. This includes MLB managers, first base coaches, recent first round draft picks, and stars of the 1990s. Email Questions * Dan: "It would seem to me that proximity to pitching coach probably does make a tremendous difference to pitcher performance. As with most coaches, I imagine the job of pitching coach is 80% preparation, building pitch use models, drawing up batter game plans, coaching catchers on game calling and in-game strategy, etc. If Searage's genius comes in this phase one could imagine J.A. Happ in Toronto begging Pete Walker to let him do it the way Ray had me doing it and hearing in return 'Sorry that's not how we roll at the Jays'. It also stands to reason that assuming it was Searage's approach that made him a genius, rather than his mechanical tinkerings, that after a few years the league would get wise and adjust." * Isaac: "A recent New York Post article pointed out that Jason Parks was at Yankee Stadium to scout their big three relievers. My question is, why? Considering these guys only pitch in 70ish games a year you might not even see them in the game and even if you do, what information could you possibly glean from seeing Aroldis Chapman throw one inning? Isn't the book on him pretty set in stone at this point? Also while we're on the subject, where does the No Runs DMC moniker rank in terms of bad group nicknames?" * Ben: "My girlfriend and I were watching a game recently and she asked me an interesting question. With runners on second and third she asked me what the term for that was. I was stumped. I realize that we have names for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd as well as 1st and 3rd, but not really for 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd. I'm curious if you guys think there's much rhyme or reason behind this discrepancy or whether it's just a lack of catchy nicknames? If it's the second, what would you guys suggest? I went with 'important bases loaded' for 2nd and 3rd but never did come up with a good name for 1st and 2nd." * Zack: "Sam has often noted that in contrast to other sports like football or basketball, baseball goes to commercial on TV and radio when all the tension is resolved. So what if baseball went to commercial at different times? I would propose that play stop every 12-15 minutes and the broadcast go to commercial for 2 minutes. I can see a multitude of downsides to this but occasionally there would be a high stakes commercial break." Play Index * Sam uses the Play Index to find out pitchers who have the most 'perfect outings' in which they struck out every batter they faced. * Mike Myers is the all-time record holder with 80 'perfect' appearances. In each of them he only faced one batter. * Billy Wagner had 45 'perfect' appearances with 117 total strikeouts in those appearances. Notes * Several listeners followed up on Episode 904 with experiences about how crowds had interfered with players. * The one inning pitching appearance is the most common pitching appearance in MLB now. Almost half of appearances in 2015 were a single inning. * Sam's reaction to Zack's question: "We're 904 episodes in? We should just rename the show 'Sam Has Often Noted'." * The new TV show Braindead is made by the creators of The Good Wife. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 905: The Pitch-Clock Countdown Edition Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes